Australian Open boss Craig Tiley on the monumental difficulties the event is facing

The Australian Open has been plagued by positive COVID-19 tests, huge costs and a negative public. Boss Craig Tiley lifts the lid on the insane efforts to get to this point.

Australian Open director Craig Tiley Picture: AAP

Craig Tiley knew this week had some figurative banana peels ahead for him to negotiate – and it’s over-delivered.

Nothing’s come easy in recent months for Tennis Australia’s chief executive officer, who doubles as the Australian Open’s tournament director.

Saving Melbourne’s grand slam in the face of the COVID-19 crisis was a titanic battle, and one TA couldn’t afford to lose, given the importance of the tournament to all other streams of the sport at home.

Vic Premier Daniel Andrews feared Melbourne could lose the tournament if it didn’t go ahead.

Hyperbole or not, Victorian Premier Dan Andrews even suggested the alternative of skipping the Open in 2021 was not an option.

“If the Australian Open does not happen in Melbourne, it will happen somewhere else,” Andrews said on Thursday.

“It will happen in Japan, it will happen in China, it will happen in Singapore. The real risk then is, it doesn’t come back.

“Just focus on the future of this event – not just this year – but what not having this event this year may well mean.”

The Open will begin three weeks later than planned, on February 8, an arrangement dependent on many other factors.

The qualifying event was relocated to two Middle Eastern cities, the lead-in tournaments were moved to Melbourne, four quarantine hotels were organised across two states and, most importantly, players and support staff were locked into tough quarantine conditions.

Expect and Aus Open like no other in 2021. Picture: Getty Images

Melbourne Park will be divided into three ‘zones’ and will be ticketed as such, meaning fans won’t be able to move between them on the same day.

There was also some serious political manoeuvring, including striking a deal with the South Australian Government to house a 50-strong ‘bubble’ there to ease the pressure on Melbourne.

In exchange, Adelaide scored a top-flight exhibition event with five of the world’s top six players across both genders, as well as a WTA 500 tournament post the Australian Open.

That move wasn’t popular with everyone, with French player Jeremy Chardy accusing TA of favouring that elite crop.

Watching 1240 players, support staff and officials lob into Melbourne and Adelaide at various intervals since Thursday night was evidence the battle’s somewhat been won, yet still Tiley’s headaches remain.

The departure of 17 charter flights, including 15 to Melbourne, from seven international cities was always going to prove a D-Day-of-sorts for the Australian Open.

Tennys Sandgren sparked a media storm with his tweet. Picture: Michael Klein

It’s proven even more complicated than expected, especially in the social media age, when athletes – we’re looking at you, Tennys Sandgren – can spark media fires at the touch of their smartphone keypad.

Sandgren’s coronavirus ‘shedding’ saga, played out in excruciating detail on his Twitter account, provided further ammunition for a disapproving public baying for the Open’s demise.

In their eyes, here was an entitled foreigner wielding a tennis racquet who’d tested positive twice for COVID-19 – as recently as Monday – but was still free to board a plane and potentially spark a third wave of the pandemic.

TA, Police Minister Lisa Neville and COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria all issued statements explaining the “detailed and rigorous process” to try to reassure an angry public.

Their medical checks determined Sandgren was no longer infectious or a risk to anyone else. His ticket to Australia was stamped.

Andy Murray has tested positive for COVID-19, but still wants to come. Picture: AFP

THE POSITIVE TESTS ARE FLOWING

Two male players testing positive for COVID-19 on the same day in Australian Open qualifying this week was a setback, particularly after they’d tested negative multiple times since arriving.

However, they were merely speed bumps compared to the Sandgren situation, but then came the Andy Murray bombshell.

Murray – a five-times Open runner-up set to play this year as a wildcard – was already self-isolating at his Surrey home for several days by the time the news leaked that he’d tested positive, too.

There was more to come: the word is the champion Brit still wants to come to Australia and play.

At this stage, all TA’s ruled out is Murray being on one of this week’s charter flights. Him competing at the grand slam is still in play.

Tiley told the Herald Sun: “If and when he did decide he wanted to try and come, and was able to return a negative test in time, then we may be able to discuss any other options with authorities.”

Confirmed COVID player cases include Madison Keys, Amanda Anisimova and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, while coaches Nicolas Massu (Dominic Thiem) and Jorge Aguirre (Davidovich Fokina) tested positive, too.

Then there are those not opting to come, such as American John Isner, an anti-mask campaigner.

Superstar Roger Federer, Kiki Bertens, Christian Garin, Kyle Edmund, Magda Linette, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Lucas Pouille are all out for injury-related reasons.

As a result, TA made the call to bring additional alternates, or ‘lucky losers’, from qualifying as cover.

All travellers needed to test negative or be deemed risk-free before leaving for Australia, where they will be tested again and will isolate until a negative test is returned.

Daily testing will then be part of their routine for 14 days of mandatory quarantine.

Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal arrives at Adelaide Airport. Picture: Getty Images

DID THE OPEN HAVE TO GO AHEAD?

Tiley always believed, even at the most difficult times last year – as Victorians suffered through months of lockdown – that he could deliver a “safe” Australian Open.

Once he convinced himself of that, he was determined to clear every hurdle, and there were many, in his organisation’s path.

At the same time, Tiley saw this as an opportunity to prove that Melbourne was a “global events capital”.

“For most of last year, we’ve spoken many times about all the different scenarios we had in play, and the support of the Victorian Government has been unwavering,” Tiley said.

“They’ve been a magnificent partner and we appreciate the way they’ve worked closely with us on how to deliver the AO safely.

“The AO not only has significant economic impact to the state, it’s also part of the fabric of the city and … we have the chance to be part of the rejuvenation and reinvigoration of Melbourne and Victoria.”

American tennis great Serena Williams arrives in Adelaide with daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian. Picture: AFP

THE FINANCIAL HIT

There’s no shying away from the financial black eye Tennis Australia is going to endure – which some estimates have as high as $100 million – to make sure the Open is held this year.

Tiley’s team spent about $40 million on the necessary biosecurity measures, agreed to a one-year $6 million discount for broadcaster Channel 9, and crowd capacity could be as low as 35 per cent.

Tickets for the lead-in events are likely to be on sale by next week.

Then consider the costs associated with chartering 17 flights to Australia, hotel quarantine and restructuring Melbourne Park. Running a grand slam in these COVID times is an expensive business.

To account for the losses, TA will dip into, and possibly exhaust, the entirety of its $80 million cash reserves, as well as rely on larger-than-normal government and private backing.

“As an organisation, yes, we will take a huge financial hit,” Tiley conceded.

“We’ve always managed our finances responsibly and had built up a reserve for what always seemed like an unlikely situation of not being able to stage the AO.

“The enormous costs of quarantine and other COVIDSafe protocols, along with the reimaging of the site and the inevitable loss of revenue, will deplete these reserves.

“We have been able to secure a line of credit and it’s my top priority to keep tennis going, and thriving, over the next year and beyond.”

The players’ gym has been set up in the multistorey car park adjacent to the National Tennis Centre. Picture: NCA NewsWire

APPEASING THE PUBLIC

Reader polls based on whether the Australian Open should go ahead are consistently and resoundingly returning a negative answer.

Then look at many of the concerned comments under stories and on social media.

Whether that’s the vocal minority or not, Tiley and co. still haven’t won the public over despite part of their motivation to run the tournament being based on helping jump-start the economy.

There’s a subset of Melburnians genuinely upset that after significant effort to achieve ‘COVID normal’ that a sporting event could risk it all.

“The vast majority of our team are Melburnians and completely understand the concerns,” Tiley said.

“From the outset, for everything we have done with government, community safety has been a priority.

“We would not have government support to stage the AO if we didn’t have strict protocols in place for everything.

“We also have an extensive biosecurity and COVIDSafe plan in place for the event itself and look forward to staging a safe Australian Open, and bringing live sport back to Melbourne.”

Originally published as Australian Open boss Craig Tiley on the monumental difficulties the event is facing